To receive questions from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order No. 12.
Question submitted by Martin Bruno;
There are limited historical buildings in Chesterfield and the decision to sell Tapton House truly disturbs me. The Council obviously have a passion and a desire to renovate the Stephenson Memorial Hall in the town centre and therefore had the appetite to source funding to carry out such renovations. Did the Council consider pursuing the same source of funding to renovate Tapton House or was there no such appetite to do this and have the Council considered any other viable uses for the above property?
Question submitted by Di Treece, Friends of Tapton House;
What was the reaction of the councillor in charge of Chesterfield's heritage when the decision to sell Tapton House was made?
Minutes:
Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked by Martin Bruno:
There are limited historical buildings in Chesterfield and the decision to sell Tapton House truly disturbs me. The Council obviously have a passion and a desire to renovate the Stephenson Memorial Hall in the town centre and therefore had the appetite to source funding to carry out such renovations. Did the Council consider pursuing the same source of funding to renovate Tapton House or was there no such appetite to do this and have the Council considered any other viable uses for the above property?
Councillor Dean Collins provided a verbal response assuring Mr Bruno that the Council takes very seriously its responsibilities to safeguard listed buildings. Several options to sustain the future of Tapton House had been actively considered over the past three years and the Council remained open to the submission of viable propositions from the community.
Councillor Collins explained that whilst Chesterfield Borough Council has a proven track record of attracting Heritage Lottery Fund and other capital funding, such funds would only be made available to support the costs of restoring and refurbishing Tapton House where the Council could demonstrate that it had an end use where enough income could be achieved to cover the building’s ongoing running costs.
The Council had fulfilled this and other tests in attracting Levelling Up Fund funding for the Stephenson Memorial Hall. Such funds also had to be defrayed quickly to tight Government timescales.
The following supplementary question was asked by Martin Bruno;
We have a petition signed by 1900 people objecting to the sale of Tapton House, would the Council consider keeping Tapton House for the people of Chesterfield?
Councillor Dean Collins provided a verbal response confirming that no decision had yet been made and that the Council had not ruled out any options at this stage.
Under Standing Order No. 12, the following question was asked by the Chief Executive on behalf of Di Treece, Friends of Tapton House:
What was the reaction of the councillor in charge of Chesterfield's heritage when the decision to sell Tapton House was made?
Councillor Dean Collins provided a verbal response explaining that he was the cabinet portfolio holder with direct responsibility for management of the Council’s operational and non-operational assets and re-affirming the position stated in his earlier response that the Council had not as yet made any decision to sell Tapton House.